GRAY, Maine (NEWS CENTER) -- The American Red Cross is always encouraging people to donate blood. It helps to save thousands of lives every year, and Ray Poulin is one of them.

Ray was diagnosed with a blood infection called Sepsis last spring, after he reached a body temperature of 106 degrees. He spent 32 days at Maine Medical Center in Portland undergoing emergency surgery, an induced coma and 77 units of fresh blood. At one point doctors gave Ray a less than 10% chance to pull through. Not easy for his wife, Nikki Poulin, and their two daughters Hailey (9) and Samantha (6).

"It just didn't feel real, like I felt like I was outside of my body watching myself go through this," said Nikki.

Without the life saving support of nurses, doctors, surgeons and many more who knows if Ray would have pulled through. To thank them for all of their efforts, Ray visited Maine Medical giving out bear hugs left and right. Few appreciated the visit more than Dr. Michael Stern who spent weeks by Ray's side in the hospital.

"When you see somebody who makes it and really flourishes like he has with the support system and his health it makes you realize that you do this for a reason," said Dr. Stern.

Ray has started a campaign called RaysUp to raise awareness about the importance of blood donation. They hold several blood drives throughout the year, to find out when the next one is go to raysup.org.